Sport is healthy. Movement keeps the circulation going and strengthens the muscles. This "truism" applies to all age groups. The joints and locomotor system should be promoted - without overtaxing them. Injuries during sports should be avoided wherever possible. The rules of the respective sport as well as the sports equipment and the surroundings, e.g. the sports hall, contribute to this. The essential part of a sports hall is the hall floor. It differs from the usual floors in houses and offices and on the road.
Due to evolutionary reasons, the human locomotor system is accustomed to a soft underground. Our ancestors lived and hunted on forest floors, meadows or sand. Concreted paths and asphalted roads are an achievement of modern times. They are good for vehicles but bad for our ankle joints and knees. Without footwear with sufficient padding, our locomotor system wears out faster than the body's self-healing forces can "maintain" them. Types of sports involving lots jumping, short sprints and fast changes of direction lead to extensive strain even on grass.
The floors of sports facilities can make a significant contribution to protecting the health of athletes. Modern sports facilities are equipped with sprung floors that yield when hopping, jumping or running and thus protect the athlete from injuries and increased wear. DIN 18032 regulates the requirements on floors in gymnasiums and sports halls. The floors of these halls must offer the athlete a firm hold, but they should also yield a little under load. The same applies to sports floors outdoors, e.g. to football pitches.
The extent to which a sports floor must yield is defined in detail in the German Industry Standard (DIN 18032). A distinction is made between different types of loading. The floors for cycling and roller sports, for example, are "area-elastic". They yield extensively when subjected to loads. Conversely, floors for gymnastics and ball sports must be "locally elastic". They should yield quickly with a small deformation recess when subjected to sudden loading.
Compliance with the DIN specifications is verified through suitable measurement processes. These include the stress test with the so-called artificial athlete 95. This involves a three-legged frame in which a drop weight (3) is triggered by a solenoid (2). This drop weight falls along the guide pillar (1) onto an impact head (4). The impact is transmitted via a spring (5) to a base plate (8) and a force transducer (7).
Additionally attached travel measurement systems register the lowering of the base plate. The extent and duration of the deflection result in the values of the underground's elasticity. This measuring method can be used to check or verify compliance with the specifications for the respective sports floor. The linear transducers are designed as sensors with a return spring. They transmit a signal to the evaluation unit that corresponds to the lowering of the base plate. As can be seen from the photos, 2 linear transducers are mounted so that uneven lowering (tilting) of the base plate can also be measured.
